


there’s too much green to feel blue

by darksideofmyroom



Series: anatomy of the aftermath [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers 4, Fluff, Gen, He gets two, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Ned Leeds, Precious Peter Parker, Precious Scott Lang, Steve is there and he’s sad, Time Travel, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, he’s got a lot of feelings, honestly I love Scott so much y’all have no idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-08-01 04:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16277918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darksideofmyroom/pseuds/darksideofmyroom
Summary: “it’s somewhere in the space between what should be, what could be, and what he wants it to be, that he finds himself stuck within what is”Tony gets to see Peter again after the snap.





	there’s too much green to feel blue

“Alright, I’m finished. We’re done here, Cap” Scott says as he reaches them at their meeting point. His breath is running short and he seems to be as tired as the rest of them feel, but there’s a certain determination in his voice, it’s enough to make space for a flicker of hope in their hearts.

“Good” he tells him, then he speaks into his comm “Natasha, status”

“We’re ready. Barton just got here”

“Copy that, see you in a while”

Steve takes a long deep breath, runs a hand through his hair as he sighs.  
They’re gonna fix everything, they’re going to get them all back.

“Okay. Okay, Tony, time to get back.”

Tony doesn’t answer him. He’s staring at the building in front of them and his mind seems to be somewhere far away from their mission.

“Stark, we gotta hurry. Are you okay?”

“He’s going to be out of school in a few minutes.” is all he gets for an answer.

Steve frowns. They don’t have time for this, and he can’t handle having their only shot at saving the other half of humanity being wasted.

“What are you talking about?”

“The kid” he says, just above his breath.

His voice is so close to breaking that it makes Steve’s heart clench. 

Scott’s eyes soften immediately.  
He’s a father, too. And he can’t even imagine what it’s like to loose your child, he doesn’t even want to think about what Stark and Barton are going through. But he’s spent too much time away from Cassie and he knows it hurts to breathe without her.

“Steve, I, I need to see him. Please, I need to see him” and seeing Tony beg is just so uncharacteristic and wrong he has to look away for a second, take another deep, deep breath.

“Tony” he says, looking at him in the eyes, and god, he’s tearing up “I’m so sorry, we can’t, we have to-“

“Let him have this” Scott cuts him off, his voice a little bit higher than he intended it to be.

Steve stays silent for a second, not really knowing what to think or to say.

His thoughts are cut off by the loud ring of the school bell, and suddenly the doors open and a crowd of young students are rushing out and down the stairs.

Tony sucks in a breath, he forgets to let it out. 

His head is pounding and his heart starts beating so fast against his rib cage.  
It takes too long, and all of these kids keep jumping down the stairs but none of them is Peter, so it really doesn’t matter at all.

Then he spots him, big smile on his face and his hands resting on his shoulder straps as he walks alongside his best friend.

Tony could cry, or maybe he is crying.  
But he missed the kid so much and he can’t help the wave of emotion that hits him oh so violently. The sheer happiness of seeing him again, alive and well, the guilt that weighs down on him because he wasn’t enough to keep him safe.  
And the dark, hopeless feeling he couldn’t ever shake away after the war, that is now slowly fading out, as if it was never even there.

He’s running before he even knows. 

And if Steve’s calling out for his name, he doesn’t hear him.

Peter’s eyes go wide as soon as he sees him there, and Ned’s jaw looks like it’s about to fall off.

“Mr Sark! I-“ Tony’s got his arms around him before the kid can even bat an eye.

God, he’s here. He’s holding him and he can hear his heartbeat and he’s real, he’s not gone and he’s not fading away.

“Kid” he closes his eyes and just lets himself be in the moment “Pete, I missed you so much”

Peter frowns at him, confusion clearly showing on his face, but he still doesn’t pull away from the hug “What are you talking about? I was at the compound last week”

There’s a couple of teenagers looking at them, whispering under their breaths and pulling out their phone cameras, but Tony doesn’t even register them, and at the moment there’s nothing that matters more than holding his child.  
Not even the fact that Ned is left standing behind them awkwardly as they hug.

“Yeah, yeah I know. It’s just, you know when I say you’re a pain in the ass? I don’t actually really mean that. I mean you are, but I care about you, I want you to know that”

Peter pulls away this time, and Tony can see concern in his eyes.  
“Mr Stark, did something happen? Are you okay?”

Tony lets out a watery laugh.  
“I’m fine, I’m fine kid. Everything’s fine, you’re fine.”

Peter still looks defiant, he squints his eyes at Tony, as if trying to find the lie in his expression.

“You sure? You look tired, and...weird. Also it’s Wednesday, you know May only lets me come over on Fridays.” he looks around to make sure no one can hear and then he whispers “Is it a mission? You know I’m up for a mission, Mr Stark”

Tony visibly flinches. 

Ned, on the other hand, looks like he’s about to burst with excitement.  
“Oh my God Peter, you gotta tell me everything when you get back!”

The words feel like a knife to Tony’s gut.  
The real Ned, or the Ned of the future, is still waiting for his friend to come back and tell him about his adventures, knowing that couldn’t happen but still wishing on it every night.

“It’s not a..., it’s not that. I was just bored, I guess. Decided to pop in and say hi”

Something seems to click in Peter’s brain, he gives him a small smile, like he figured out exactly what to do.  
“Are you feeling lonely, Mr Stark?”

He’s been feeling hopeless, empty, angry and overwhelmed all at once in these months without Peter. He was pushing everyone away and falling back into his bad habits. 

And even when Carol Danvers came to them with the promise of salvation, it all still felt out of place. Too many blank spaces and missing pieces and he couldn’t really tell if the people around him were still real, no matter how strong Rhodey’s grip was on his shoulder and how soft Pepper’s lips felt against his.

Yes, he was feeling lonely.

He shrugs, and Peter’s smile gets even softer.

“Do you want a hug?”

He laughs, even though his heart is clenching, ‘cause he loves this kid so much, and he’s going to get him back no matter what.

“Bring it in, underoos” he opens his arms and Peter rushes into them gladly.

Tony rests his chin on Peter’s head and holds him as tight as he can, pretends he doesn’t ever have to let go.

“I love you kid” he says, because he needs to tell him and because he wants him to know.

Peter doesn’t say a thing for a while, he probably wasn’t excepting anything like that.

“Love you too” he mumbles against his chest.

“Stark! Stark, I’m sorry, we really have to go now”

Tony reluctantly pulls away from the hug to face Scott. He sniffs, nods at him.

“Okay, okay”

He can do this.

Scott smiles sympathetically. 

“Who’s that?” Ned whispers to Peter, but Scott still hears him ‘cause Ned doesn’t really know how to whisper.

“I don’t know, he looks familiar though. This is all too weird, dude”

“He hugged you!”

“I know! He’s usually super weird about hugs-“

He can’t help but chuckle. They’re still children, the war hasn’t taken them away or made them jaded yet.

“You do know I can hear you”

Both boys go utterly still as their cheeks begin to heat up. Tony smiles fondly at them.

“Hey Pete”

“Yeah?”

“See you on Friday, alright?”

Peter lights up as he nods repeatedly.  
“Sure. Looking forward to it”

He exhales loudly, and turns to follow Lang. He can do this. He’s going to get Peter back anyways.

“Alright, let’s go, atomic ant”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, I am avoiding my responsibilities and I should be sleeping but it’s nice to be here.  
> Thank you for reading this, I hope it was okay and I apologize for the mistakes you might find, my first language isn’t English so my grammar isn’t exactly the best. Also it’s late and I barely reread this, so yeah, I’m sorry about that.  
> Also the plot is pretty much nonexistent but I’m honestly too happy I actually wrote something to really care.  
> I hope you’re having a nice day/evening/night and if you feel like giving me any feedback I would honestly love that.


End file.
